German Medal Winners at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Part 3

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London have come to an end and Germany pulled off a great 5th place finish with their smallest team in over 20 years. The total medal count for Germany is 44 medals (11 Gold, 19 Silver, and 14 Bronze). Even though it is nowhere near the United States’ 104 medals, Germany should be proud considering the size difference. Continue reading to find the latest wins and also check out Part 1 and Part 2 to see a recap of all medals won by Germany in the 2012 games.

Gold Medal Winners

Hockey – Men’s Hockey

Germany was able to beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the Men’s Hockey final to win their second successive Gold medal win in the olympic tournament. The Netherlands had hoped to defeat Germany so that they could walk away with both the Women’s and Men’s Gold, but Germany was just too fast and focused to let it happen.

Silver Medal Winners

Athletics – Men’s Pole Vault

Germany pushed their hardest to try to win the top medal in the Men’s Pole Vault, and although Bjorn Otto cleared an impressive 5.91m, it wasn’t enough to beat France’s Renaud Lavillenie who broke an Olympic record with his jump of 5.97m. Otto has frequently gone up against Lavillenie in competitions throughout the year but has always come in second place and he isn’t ready to give up trying just yet.

Cycling – Mountain Bike – Women’s Cross-Country

The Cross-Country cycling event is always a tough one – racing on a variety of surfaces and obstacles including rocks, forrest paths, gravel roads, etc, but Germany’s Sabine Spitz was able to come out of it with a Silver medal. Several decent attempts were made by Spitz to race past France’s Julie Bresset, but she couldn’t get far enough head to break the lead.

Swimming – Men’s 10km Marathon

In the outdoor Men’s 10km Swimming Marathon, Germany’s Thomas Lurz won the Silver medal, coming in just 3.4 seconds behind Oussama Mellouli from Tunisia. This is just the second year that the competition has been a part of the Olympic games and Lurz has shown some strong potential should he return for the 2016 games in Brazil.

Bronze Medal Winners

Athletics – Men’s Pole Vault

Even though Germany didn’t win Gold in the Men’s Pole Vault event, they were at least able to secure both Silver and Bronze medals. Raphael Holzdeppe from Germany finished third behind his fellow teammate Bjorn Otto. Both athletes cleared 5.91m, but due to having more failed attempts, Holzdeppe took the Bronze medal.

Athletics – Women’s Hammer Throw

In a somewhat controversial final, Germany’s world record-holder Betty Heidler came in 3rd place during the Women’s Hammer Throw. She was up against Russia’s Tatyana Lysenko who had to skip the 2008 Olympics due to a doping charge and now the Chinese have filed an appeal for this year’s game claiming that China’s Zhang Wenxiu should have won the bronze medal.

Taekwondo – Women’s -67kg

Germany’s Helena Fromm, a former European champion, beat Carmen Marton of Australia to take home the second bronze medal in the Women’s -67kg Taekwondo event. Paige McPherson from the United States was the other Bronze medal recipient.

Stephen founded German Pulse and LGBT Germany out of a passion to introduce Americans to a Germany that goes beyond beer and polka (although with enough beer he has been known to polka it up a bit). He's a coffee addict, lover of wine and good times, a hit in the kitchen and editor of TV commercials. You can follow him on Twitter (@StephenWFuchs) to find out a lot more.